Thumpies - freaks or cuties ? [$0.99 sale]

[StaggerLee]

Trailer

Gameplay video

Facebook page


Youtube link | Pop Up

[Maythius]

The videos do not help me figure out what the gameplay is... I don't know what's going on.

[klicktock]

I'm downloading it ATM. It's quite large - around 130MB!

[TheSporkWithin]

The links lead to Plants Vs Zombies videos... This looks quite interesting, but I'd like to see some actual footage of THIS game before I bite.

[danrel]

Originally Posted by TheSporkWithin

The links lead to Plants Vs Zombies videos... This looks quite interesting, but I'd like to see some actual footage of THIS game before I bite.

Just search for the name of the game on Youtube. The two intended videos are there.

[Devilishly Good]

embedded here:


Youtube link | Pop Up

[z0|¥|b1_G-zus]

I'll start by saying that if you enjoy rhythm games and have $.99, get this. If you enjoy rhythm games and DON'T have .$99, go get yourself the loot and get this. Cash some coins in, break out the credit card, attach yourself to you parent's leg, beg, start shaking, and even gnaw on it a bit if you have to, just get the $1.05 (prices may vary based on your local sales tax %; I'm in PA).

Continue if you want to know why.

I wouldn't normally start here but I want to so I'm going to...graphics. The game looks great as far as I'm concerned. Backgrounds have a great nice painted style to them, fit the theme of the game & add to the atmosphere, and you can tell time was put into them. There's a total of 18 Thumpies that are unlocked by collecting butterflies (more on that in a bit). Each Thumpie (would it be Thumpy when referring to 1?) has its own look and style. Does anyone remember Mad Balls? They were a styrofoam/rubber ball about the size of a baseball from the 80's. Each one was a different monster head. That's that first thing that comes to mind when I look at the Thumpies...and that's awesome...because I collected them all.

Moving on to gameplay. Each level is a different song with 16 total as far as I can tell. I played all the levels at least once but I don't if there are any secrets. I'm going to go ahead and say there's not, just because. Three difficulty levels per song.

Depending on the level there will be anywhere from 2-6 or 7 "beat pads" in the level. When you start there's a simple beat if anything in the background. Then the Thumpies come in. The levels are divided into differents segments with each one focusing on a different layer of sound that makes up the song. During each segment 1 or more Thumpies will start falling from the sky bouncing from pad to pad requiring you to hit the pad at the point of impact. At the top of the screen is a bar that fills as you successfully match the beats. When it's full the sound loop you just created gets added to the background music and you move to the next loop. This also let's you hear what the pattern sounds like if you were to hit the pads at the right time. I say this because I at first thought the response time to my touch was off. As I learned the pattern and went back to play again I discovered controls can be forgiving and that I just lacked rhythm. While I already knew this in my heart, I still denied it until I could no longer. In any case, it's a nice twist to gameplay for rhythm game genre and it works very well. I read that it's a mix of rhythm and juggling and that's exactly what it is.

Now the butterflies. During play, as you're juggling the Thumpies butterflies randomly fly in the background that you tap to collect, unlocking the variety of Thumpies that show up. The level select screen is a tree with the different level appearing on the branches. At the base is a door you tap taking you to the screen with unlocked and locked Thumpies. The unlocked ones you check/uncheck to get them to appear while the locked ones show how many of each butterfly you need to unlock them. This adds a sort of side quest to unlock them all. Sounds simple but when you're juggling 4 Thumpies moving to a fast beat across 5 pads you quickly stop following the butterflies in the background.

On to the music. You won't recognize it. Any of it. 16 tracks of original music that's actually good music. What I personally enjoy is that in concept it reminds me of NIN. By that I mean the sounds that make up the loops range from actually instruments to random bangs to grunts and groans. The loops on their own may strike a feeling of "WTF???" but when you hear them all together in the final song they're actually the crunchiest of tunes, metaphorically speaking.

After playing this game for a solid hour before coming on here to post this the only question I have is where the hell did this game come from? I try to keep up with the upcoming releases and news but didn't see this anywhere. Did I miss it? This to me a a sleeper hit and 1 of the best apps I've picked up recently.

I love rhythm games and have picked up zombeat, rock band, ninja Honda karate, mevo, imp, world of tunes, entranced & beatrider while trying the free versions of whatever ones had free versions. The ones I'll never voluntarily remove from my phone are zombeat, nhk, rockband, entranced, and now Thumpies. It offers a new gameplay technique, 16 good song, great atmosphere & style, collectible Thumpies Mad Balls (awesome), & a price tag of $.99 (before tax, where applicable).

I can only end this how I started by saying if you like rhythm games and have the money, get Thumpies.

[danrel]

I don't usually dig rhythm games(since 'Parappa The Rapper', that is) and I find this game irresistible. The pacing so far(just beat the first few stages) seems to be perfect. The 3D character animations and texture mappings that bounce around are top-notch. They REALLY remind me of Mad Balls[The Next Generation], to an extent so I am somewhat bias due to nostalgia-sake(80's child.. ).

All-in-all if you're into rythem games, I would safely say(as someone who is not normally into the '...... Hero' type games) that this is a very sound buy at its current or even a higher price.

4.5/5 stars for me

[danrel]

FYI 'Mad Balls':

[BazookaTime]

Very good game. The video and pictures don't do the game justice.